


A Brief Error in Judgment

by Amelia041223



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste is Just Trying His Best, Adrien is regretting his life choices, Attempt at Humor, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Gabriel Agreste is Not Amused, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Light Angst, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and his house was right there, and it was raining, and just generally confused, but not all of them, can be read as platonic, he was very tired, hurt Marinette, look Adrien had a long day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:28:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21685732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amelia041223/pseuds/Amelia041223
Summary: In retrospect, or according to the small scraps of sanity Chat Noir hoped he still possessed, he should have just taken her home.Should’ve.But he didn’t.No, instead he’d scooped Marinette into his arms, and leapt directly through his bedroom window.Based onthis tumblr postby australet789
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 24
Kudos: 330





	A Brief Error in Judgment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [australet789](https://archiveofourown.org/users/australet789/gifts).



> I don't know how this happened but it did. 
> 
> Based on [this tumblr post](https://midnight-mismanagement.tumblr.com/post/189489547308/australet789-you-know-the-usual-trope-of-either) by the amazing australet789 where I originally posted this.

He had not thought this through.

Truthfully speaking, he’d not thought at all. He hadn’t been thinking. 

This wasn’t what he’d had in mind when he first found Marinette, caught in the rain for no discernible reason, far from the bakery and lying on the sidewalk. She said she twisted her ankle.

Right after an akuma attack too.

In retrospect, or according to the small scraps of sanity Chat Noir hoped he still possessed, he should have just taken her home. 

Should’ve.

But he didn’t.

No, instead he’d scooped her into his arms, and leapt directly through his bedroom window. 

Adrien’s bedroom window.

In his defence, they’d been right outside the Agreste mansion. The akuma attack fairly close to home this time around. 

He was soaked to the bone, his nerves shot, buzzing with the aftershocks of an akuma fight, and underneath it all he was exhausted. 

And now he was in his bedroom. With Marinette. Only it wasn’t  _ his _ bedroom right now. At all.

Chat Noir set Marinette on the couch. She blinked at him.

“W-What,” water dripped into her eyes and she scrubbed it away, “isn’t this A-Adrien’s room?” 

She sounded panicked.

Uh oh.

That wasn’t good.

Chat Noir gave her the best smile he could muster. Under the circumstances, he figured he did pretty well.

“I guess so,” he said, and gently lifted her leg so her ankle rested on a pillow. It looked a little swollen already.

Marinette spluttered.

“ _ You guess so _ ?” 

Adrien absently nodded, ducking into the bathroom to grab a towel, ignoring how badly he dripped all over the floor. He’d clean that up later.

He returned to the couch to find her attempting to stand, giving up with a wince. Her eyes, sharp and blue, immediately refocused on him. Adrien tried not to flinch.

“So do you mind telling me why w-we,” her arms flailed, attempting to gesture at the expanse of Adrien’s room, “why we’re  _ in it _ ?”

Adrien forced a laugh. It sounded kind of strangled.

“Uh, yeah, um, I’m actually friends with Adrien, so, uh, I’m sure he won’t mind, he - he’s told me if I’ve ever needed somewhere to take cover during an akuma attack, his window is open, so, um, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Smooth. 

Adrien fluffed out the towel in his hands with a snap and used it to hide his expression. 

“Oh,” was all she said. She still sounded uncertain, so Chat took the opportunity to dump the towel on her head. She squeaked.

Adrien kneeled, and dried her hair until her pigtails fell out. Marinette swatted at his hands, and Adrien relented, pulling back to admire her scowl. 

She did look nice with her hair down. Well, she always looked nice, but he couldn’t help but feel something flicker in his chest when she looked at him, mouth pulled into a frown, eyes burning holes into his skull, damp hair frizzed and sticking up in all possible directions. Adrien smiled.

She smacked him lightly on the chest.

“I can do that myself,” she snapped, snatching the towel from his hands. Adrien chuckled, relinquishing his hold. “I just don’t want you to catch pneumonia, princess,” he said happily. If she was berating him, then maybe her ankle wasn’t as bad as he thought. That was good. “Besides, there’s no need to be upset, you look lovely,” he said, rushing back into the bathroom for another towel.

He scooped some ice from a tray in his mini freezer (the ice trays the only item in the mini freezer) and returned dutifully to her side, kneeling by her feet. 

Tentatively, Adrien lowered the bundle over her ankle, resting it ever so gently over the swelling. Marinette let out a small sigh, and when he looked up, she wore a begrudging smile on her lips. 

“Thanks, kitty,” she said, and Adrien felt a small part of himself relax.

She was shivering, he realized, but she was still aggressively smoothing her hair, straightening it out from its crumpled mess. Adrien carefully balanced the ice bundle around her ankle before jumping to his feet, racing to his closet to pull out the fluffiest spare blanket he owned. 

Adrien draped it over her, slowly this time, and she startled a bit before softening, snuggling under the cotton. She peered up at him then, frowning slightly.

“Chat, you’re shivering,” she said, teeth chattering a little as she did. Chat blinked. Oh yeah. He was. He felt his ears flicker, irritated at the water, and the crawling feeling he’d been ignoring returned at full force. Right. Chat Noir was apparently a lot more sensitive to the uncomfortable wetness of rain than what could be considered normal. 

Adrien, however, simply shrugged.

“Don’t worry about me, princess” he said, kneeling once again to tuck the edges of the blanket under her until she was as comfortable as possible, under the circumstances. 

There were currently a lot of circumstances. Most of which he was choosing not to think about at the moment. 

(Like Nathalie. The Gorilla. His father. Oh god what if his father came in here?)

Adrien immediately dismissed the thought. No, his father would never bother to come into his room unless it was something important, like if he was in trouble, or to test his progress on the piano.

Adrien elected not to follow that particular train of thought, refocusing his attention on what mattered. Not allowing Marinette to suffer from hypothermia, for example. 

Something landed on his head. Everything went dark. A towel.

Adrien stilled.

Then he heard Marinette giggle, the sound muffled, and soon hands were pressing through the fabric, gently patting.

Oh. 

Marinette was drying his hair. 

She was careful with his cat ears, easing up almost immediately, and lifting the towel until he could see her, looking up at her from under his lashes. Her smirk was wide, but soft around the edges. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Chat, it wouldn’t do Paris or Ladybug any good if her partner was sick,” she chided, scrubbing at his head.

Adrien hadn’t planned on leaning in. It just. Felt good. Nice. Warm.

(Safe.)

When she removed the towel from his head, a part of him ached at the loss, and Adrien hastily bit back a noise of protest. What was wrong with him, he shouldn’t be asking for - 

Marinette wrapped it around his shoulders, her fist keeping the edges together, loose around his neck. 

Her eyes were a little sad when she looked at him, a small crease marring her brow, and before Chat could puzzle that out, she yanked him forward until he was sitting flush against the couch, her arm hugging him around the shoulder. 

“This way we’ll both be warmer,” she said, voice firm. 

And Chat felt himself melt a little.

He leaned into her, head tucked against her side, under her arm, and - felt something inside him slowly unwind until he was limp in her hold.

It had - it had been a while. Since someone had just - held him. Like this.

Adrien let his eyes droop shut and felt a small rumble start up in his chest. 

And of course, that was when the door to his bedroom was flung open. 

“Adrien, Nathalie has just informed me that-”

Adrien froze.

Marinette stiffened beside him. 

The clip of a pair of fancy shoes Adrien was well acquainted with came to a stop. Behind them. 

He wasn’t entirely certain he was imagining the distant screaming in his head.

If Marinette’s arm wasn't practically choking him he would’ve leapt to his feet.

As it was, his father had other plans. That didn’t include waiting for Chat to free himself.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Was his first question.

“Why are you in my house?” Was his second.

“Where is my son?” Was his third.

Adrien could admit he may have made a slight error in judgment. 

He gulped.

Yes, this was. Bad. Very bad. Badness of the very much  _ oh-shit  _ variety. 

He should probably move.

Or breathe.

Or something.

Gabriel Agreste rounded the couch, and now he was standing over them, looming, shadow falling over them in a way that suggested he was not particularly pleased.

Adrien slowly shifted his gaze up until he was able to lock eyes with his father. 

Yeah, no. He was not pleased.

It was always worth a check.

“Are you going to explain to me what you are doing in my house, in my son’s room, with this baker girl.”

As it turned out, Adrien did not feel so inclined.

He should probably say something though. 

Yes. He should. That was the last scrap of rationality his brain had somehow maintained talking. He should listen to it.

Adrien opened his mouth and choked.

Oh right. He was still being partially strangled. 

Marinette immediately released him, letting out a squawk, and Adrien fell backwards on his elbows.

Gabriel Agreste’s expression did not so much as twitch.

Yes, Adrien could safely say he had most definitely not thought this through.

Marinette took that opportunity to spring to her feet. Or try. She ended in yelping, and Adrien lunged to catch her. 

She was in his arms now.

Apparently.

Ice scattered across the floor.

Gabriel Agreste’s face darkened, if possible, even more.

Then he sighed.

He rubbed at a spot on his temple.

“Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I would appreciate it if, in future, you chose a different locale to conduct affairs with a formerly-respectable saviour of Paris. Anywhere but my son’s bedroom, for instance.”

Marinette’s jaw dropped.

Adrien blinked.

_ Affairs?  _ Formerly _ -respectable -? _

“It’s - it’s not like that - I - we weren’t -”  
“There is no need to embarrass yourself further, Miss Dupain-Cheng, your excuses are quite unbecoming. Now I would kindly ask you to leave. And take your stray with you.”

Marinette went rigid. She straightened. Lifted her chin.

And Adrien saw all nine of his lives flash before his eyes as he watched her face contort into a glare. 

Her mouth opened.

Adrien quite honestly wouldn’t mind if someone was akumatized right about now. It would be the considerate thing to do. 

“If you would give me the courtesy of  _ allowing _ me to speak,  _ Monsieur  _ Agreste, I could easily tell you that Chat Noir had found me beside your house, in the rain with a twisted ankle, and he would’ve brought me home instead but since he’s had direct permission from  _ your _ own son to use his room if he needs to, then he brought me here instead of waiting for me to get sick in the rain.” She drew in a breath, “and since this is  _ Adrien’s _ room, then it’s  _ Adrien’s _ permission that matters, and we were just about to leave a-anyway. Chat Noir was just helping a citizen in distress. And he is still very much a  _ respectable saviour _ of Paris. Now, if-if you’ll excuse us, we were just about to be on our way, and - and your son, um , you son is -”

“ _Heeee_ said he was going to get Marinette something to help her ankle at the, uh, the pharmacy just down the road,” Adrien’s voice had generously decided to contribute without failing, “he said he’ll be back soon, and he thought it was close enough he didn’t require his, uh, his driver…”

There was silence.

It was deafening. 

Adrien wouldn’t have minded if Hawk Moth had chosen that moment to crash through his window, brandishing akuma. 

It would have at least provided an adequate distraction.

Gabriel blinked, and adjusted his glasses, pressing them further up his nose.

“I see,” he said.

Marinette slowly blanched, expression morphing into one appropriate to someone who was slowly becoming aware of the true fragility of their mortality.

Chat was the only thing keeping her upright at this point.

“Your impertinence is frankly, astounding, but I concede I can admire your boldness. Now please leave.”

Marinette’s eyes sharpened to steel. 

“My _ impertinence -  _ ?”

“Alright, thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Agreste, we’ll get out of your hair,” Adrien laughed and it sounded a little more than hysterical. He quickly scooped Marinette into his arms, and in another few bounds he was out the window, into the rain, and this was fine, everything was fine, he would take Marinette to her house and Gabriel Agreste most definitely did not just think he and Marinette were - were - um - 

Marinette, on her part, had gone catatonic.

Adrien decided he could worry about that once they reached the bakery.

It was going to be _ fine _ . 

He landed on her balcony, using the tip of his boot to toe her trapdoor open before gently lowering her down.

He lay her out on her bed. 

And then slowly, ever so slowly, Marinette turned her head, eyes big and wide and round. 

“Did...did I just yell at Adrien’s dad?”

Adrien nodded.

“Yeah,” he said.

She turned her gaze to the ceiling.

“And does he think we - we were -” Her face reddened.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck.

“Um. Maybe?”

“So, are you telling me I just single-handedly ruined my entire future career as a fashion designer?”

“Uh.”

Marinette’s expression crumpled.

And Adrien lunged forward, cupping her face.

“No, no, he was, um, didn’t he say he was impressed? I’m sure it’s fine, it’ll be fine! Um, actually I think it was a good thing that you did that, it was - it was really brave, and you…”  
Adrien felt his breath catch in his throat.

Marinette had just stood up to his father. For him. For Chat. 

He felt something warm swell in his throat and didn’t want it to go away.

She looked at him.

“Really?”

“Absolutely,” he didn’t hesitate, “I mean, I don’t know of many people who would um, who would’ve done that.”

“Most people aren’t dumb enough to.”  
Chat huffed a laugh, and she cracked a weak smile.

“Yeah, well, I never said bravery was conducive to survival, so - ” 

Marinette flicked him lightly on the forehead.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

She sighed, then shot him a sideways glance.

“Do you actually know where Adrien is?”

“Um, no, but uh, he probably just went out to get some air or something, he’s told me he gets pretty restless cooped up inside, so. I’m sure he’s fine. I can check if you want, though.”  
It was sweet she cared.

Marinette frowned a little, but didn’t comment. If anything she just looked a little sad.

“Yeah, thanks Chat, that would be - that would be good.”

Adrien nodded, and straightened, stretching up to grab the edges of her skylight. 

He really didn’t want to leave.

“Chat? Don’t stay too long in the rain, okay?”

“Don’t you worry Purrincess, I’ll be home before you can say Gabriel-Agreste-thinks-I’m-fooling-around-with-Chat-Noir.”

Marinette gaped at him.

And he scurried through the hatch and over the rooftops before she could throw something at him.

He grinned, chuckling under his breath.

No, he wasn’t going to encounter a particularly pleasant situation once he got home. 

But the warmth in his chest hadn’t faded yet. 

And that was more than enough. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I've...never written marichat before?? I don't know why. This was fun. I don't know what I'm doing.
> 
> [my tumblr](https://midnight-mismanagement.tumblr.com/)


End file.
